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Christine Morrish Franklin
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Christine Franklin is an Indigenous artist currently residing in Townsville who has developed her own style of creating dot pieces that utilise lots of colour, multiple mediums such as objects and unusual alternatives to canvas. Recently several feature articles in the Townsville Bulletin showcased her dot art that had been applied to motor scooters and helmets.
Christine’s mother was from Yarrabah, an Aboriginal community near Cairns and her father, an Irish/German was lost at sea she was six months of age.
Painting is the way that Christine finds here way through the world, she is excited by rainbow colours. Although most of her work is built upon the theme of dots, she uses the dots as a road map that guide here to complete each piece. She is currently incorporating bits of glass, painted tiles, and even cds into her work.
Christine is one of the artist to participate in two major exhibitions in 2006. The first is “New Steps” a selection of contemporary Indigenous artist’s works opening June 16 at Umbrella Studios, an she was selected to participate in “Journeys” an exhibition of contemporary installation work at Pinnacles opening in August.
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Wareed Tapau Kabe
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Wareed Tapau Kabe known to her friends as Bai, and is a most inspirational emerging artist. Her family comes from Murray Island in the eastern part of the Torres Straits. She is the eldest of nine children. Her art work reflects the beauty of the island and as a young girl sketched on boards or bits of cardboard whilst sitting on the beach looking out onto the sea and nearby islands. She has been painting since pre-school and was encouraged by her family to continue to paint because it is something she is passionate about.Wareed’s paintings blend a contemporary perspective with traditional designs from familiar images of the reefs that surround her island. Her work conveys playful combinations of colour and icons of life beneath the sea, spotted star fish, purple and orange clam shells, swirling yellow waves and currents of blue and red.
Wareed is a Thalidomide baby and was born with only one finger. She explains that because of her disability life was very difficult for her. Wareed’s great strength her love for painting, the encouragement of her family and a deep personal faith enabled her to attend The Great Barrier Reef TAFE to develop her artistic talent.
Her work has been exhibited in the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery in Townsville.
Currently her work is on display in the Cultural Centre Gallery-Townville and she is preparing for another exhibition in the Perc Tucker Gallery.
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Sean Leathers
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Sean has been interested in Indigenous heritage and culture from a very young age. The adventures he experienced as a child like, going for long walks in the bush, swimming in water holes, fishing, hunting, identifying different animal footprints has helped develop his own unique style of art. The artist would draw pictures of animals and human figures from an early age and also draw shapes, designs and patterns. Sean is fascinated with all types of art throughout the world, but he is more interested in his own ancestors’ paintings and culture, and also with the telling of the stories of the dreamtime about the beginning of creation, told by Elders. His artworks’ are spiritual and have powerful meanings and brings a strong connection to the land and to his ancestors.
Sean paints freehand and his painting is developed straight from paint brush to canvas. He makes his own paint brushes using a few pieces of his own hair.
The artist’s quote “My art is my people, my culture and what was taken from our ancestors.”
In 2005 Sean was selected for a solo exhibition at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery for NAIDOC. He is an emerging artist who has the support of the Townsville Council, and other local groups.
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Rannietta Lind
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Rannietta moved to Townsville in 2003 from Palm Island, where her four children attend the local primary school. Rannietta’s grandmother Ivey Clay was sent to Palm Island from Cloncurry for being a “half caste” And her grandfather Assan Sam was send from Darnley Island in the Torres Straits for “swearing at a white man”
Her father is Norwegian and met her mother in Sydney, they moved to Tully and then to Palm.
As a young girl Rannietta watched her mother Evelyn Lind draw sketches of people on bits of paper which she gave away. Rannietta is a self taught artist who paints at home. She enjoys painting and always remembers drawing because it relaxes and gives her time to think.
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Gail Mabo
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Gail is from the Piadram people of Murray Island (Mer). Murray Island is located in the most eastern part of the Torres Straits. Gail is the daughter of Eddie Koiki Mabo and Bonita Mabo.Her love for the arts began with the Townsville community based dance group “New Blood Dance Troupe”. She moved to Sydney to pursue training as a dance instructor with the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association (BNAISDA. This opened new doors when she became involved in short films including, “Nice Coloured Girls” with Aboriginal film maker Tracey Moffat. She then moved onto stage productions with a role in Jack Davis play “No Sugar”, and then performed in the first Aboriginal musical ‘Bran Nue Dae’ by Jimmy Chi.
Gail pursued a career as a dance teacher working with schools students and community groups. This gave her the opportunity to make a contribution to the community through a range of performances from small country towns to the Olympic Stadium. In addition she continued her studies graduating as a preschool teacher in 2003.
During this time she developed as an artist and began drawing using pen on paper and uncovering her own individual style. She enrolled in the Certificate lV in Visual Arts at the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE.
Gail’s paintings utilise her highly tuned appreciation of colours, effects and creation of depth. Her paintings are inspired by the small and often overlooked aspects of nature, rocks on the ground, and bubbles in the water and the colours in a river bed. Her keen ability to observe these aspects of nature enables her to produce pieces that reflect her perceptions of nature.
Gail’s artwork is in permanent collections in Australia. Her work has been featured at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery in Townsville as part of a group show, and in 2006 was showcased in a solo exhibition. Also in 2006 Gail was selected to participate in “Journeys”, and exhibition of Contemporary installation pieces in Pinnacles Regional Gallery.
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Ethel Neliman
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Ethol’s heritage is Badu Island she was born on Thursday Island and raised there until the age of 13, which was when the pearling industry ceased. As many Torres Strait Islanders were forced to move in search of employment, Ethol’s family was no exception they moved to Townsville as did many other Torres Strait Islander families to work in the railway industry.
In 2007 after raising her children Ethol enrolled into the Certificate IV Indigenous Art Course offered through the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE in Townsville. Thus began Ethol’s dream to learn to paint.
As a cultural Torres Strait Islander woman Ethol’s paintings often consist of the flowers that are significant to the Torres Strait Islander people such as hibiscus and frangipani. Using bright hues Ethol captures the delicate and fragile life of the flowers that often have short life spans. The range of beautiful colours and movement of the flowers are also reflected in her paintings.
These flowers remind Ethol of growing up on the Island with the beautiful coloured and scented flowers growing in her backyard. The hibiscus and frangipani have been incorporated into the cultural fabric of the Torres Strait and are often used as decorative items during significant celebrations and events and also to adorn the women when they are performing there traditional dance.
Today, the old women of the Torres Straits often wear these flowers in the hair whether they live on the island or on the mainland this is part of there everyday attire along with the brightly printed floral islander dresses.
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